Improvement in pipe-coupling for heating and ventilating railroad cars



N. PETERS. PHOTG-LITHDGRAFHEH. WASHINGTON, 0 C.

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NPPTERS, PHOTO-LHNOGRAPHER. WASH Maron D C FREDERIC n HUNT, orA LnAvENWoRTH, KANSAS.

etters PatentNo. 100,896, ydated March 15, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN PIPE-COUPLING FOR HEATING AND VENTILATING- RAILROAD CARS.

. The Schedule reerred tolin these Lettera Patent and making peut of the same.

To all whom e't may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERIC R. H UNT, of Leavenworth, in the county of Leavenworth, and State of Kansas, have invented anew and valuable Improvement in Apparatus for Heating and Cooling Trains of Cars; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the. same, reference being had to the annexed drawings making a part ot' this specification, and to the letters and tiguresof refelence marked thereon. l

Figure l of the drawings is a top view of my tubuvlar coupling and draw-heads.

Figure 2 is a view of the coupling-pipe.

Figure 3 is a verticallongitudinal section.

Figure 4 is an endview ofthe draw-head.

Figures 5, 6, 7 8, 9, and 10 are details.

My invention relates to means for heating and cooling trains o f railway cars, and consists, chiefly, in the construction and novel arrangement of devices whereby the couplings of' the cars are made to serve as the connecting-pipes for the passage of the hot or cold air .from car to car.

rlhe letter A of the drawings designates my tubular coupling, provided at each end with a nut or collar, B, beveledor rounded in such a manner as to admit of its free passage between the lanched ends of the catch-plates of the-draw-head K.

C designates the air-pipe placed under the floor of the car, and connecting the draw-heads -at each end thereof. rIhis pipe is arranged to branch at the kingbolt, and, if thought advisable,=the branches may be continued on each side of the car,.untilv they are united beyond the king-bolt at the other4 end.

D represents the head or 'block to which the end of the pipe is secured, and which serves as the body of the draw-head.

E E represent Athe catch-plates, hinged by means ofi thev cylindrical lanches e c tothe rectangular grooved neck a of the head D. Flanches b b are also formed at their forward or free end,.and beveled to admitthe coupling easily.

After the ilanched end ofthe coupling-pipe has e'ntered, the catch-plates,- actu'ated by the springs G G,

will close around it, and hold it securely.

The springs G G are fastened to the head D,- and arranged to bear upon the catch-plates in the manner shown.

' IICSSGS.

catch-plates thereby forced apartto allow the couping-pipe to escape.

These levers have forked ends arranged to bear under the 'lf-shaped project-ions S S formed on the catch-plates, and are secured to the head-block by means of the 'slots m and fulcrinn-plates V.

In order to render the draw-head eective in the l transmission of air.currents the corner-pieces H H are necessary. These corner pieces are secured to suitable seats in the head-block, and extending forward serve as guides to the catch-plates, and as wedges or packingy to prevent the escape of air between the adjacent edges of these plates.

' Theoperation of my invention may thus be described When the current of air is created by the blower at the front of the locomotive, it will pass back under the tender and through the coupling-pipe into the pipe lunder the first car, into which it may be admitted by suitable registers. Thence the current passes to the next oar, through the coupling-tube between the two, and in a similar manner throughout the train. Thus` whole trains of passenger-cars may be heated or cooled in anagreeable manner, and without danger.

Freight trains may be warmed conveniently in this way, and thus adapted for the conveyance of produce, 85e., in the coldest weather, without danger. of freezing.

Suitable valves are designed to be placed in the pipes, at a point between the king-bolt and draw-head,

in orderthat when necessary the current of air may be eut oli` at any point.

In order -to provide a means for connecting with cars having the ordinary drawhead, a modificatioueof my couplingI is made by fashioning one end thereof` into a loop or' eyel through which the coupling-pin may be passed. 'K L What I claim as luy-invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The coupling-pipe A, for connecting the cars of a railway-train, and at the same time serving as a conduit for currents 'ot' air from :car to car, as specified.

2. In combination with the coupling-pipe A, the air-tight tubular draw-head K, when arranged to operatesubstantially as and for the purposes specified.

In testimony that I claim the above I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two wit- F. n. HUNT.

\Vitnesses E. W. ANDERSON, A. M. STOUT, JR. 

